


Taming Storms

by nogood_nobody



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, Horse taming, Link makes a new friend, written pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-03 21:46:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17885792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nogood_nobody/pseuds/nogood_nobody
Summary: In the time he spent on the Great Plateau, Link saw the reaches of Hyrule spread around him on all sides. He saw peaks even higher than Mount Hylia, large desert steppes, and massive open plains. It made his plateau feel small, and now that he had left it he knew one thing for sure:He needed a horse.





	Taming Storms

**Author's Note:**

> Like it says in the tags, I wrote this before the game even came out so things don't exactly line up with canon, but it's nothing significant. Link doesn't know the voice in his head is Zelda and the Old Man is just an old man, that's all.

Link kept his breathing slow and steady as he crept closer to the herd. In the time he spent on the Great Plateau, he saw the reaches of Hyrule spread around him on all sides. He saw peaks even higher than Mount Hylia, large desert steppes, and massive open plains. It made his plateau feel small, and now that he had left it he knew one thing for sure:

He needed a horse.

Moving through this massive world on foot was ludicrous, and time was of the essence. That... _thing_ that had appeared above the castle in the distance, it sent chills down his spine just thinking about it. And the voice, the voice in his head that woke him, lead him to the tower, who was she?

Link shook his head, realizing he had let his focus drift. _One thing at a time Link. Focus._ He looked ahead. The herd hadn’t noticed him yet, they were still lazily grazing on the grass around them. Link continued to move closer, eyeing each one.

There was a chestnut mare a few yards away from the herd underneath the shadow of a tree, casting her gaze around the surrounding area more often than the others. Her ears constantly flicked towards every noise and her feet continuously shifted her weight, ready to bolt in any direction at any moment. Shy. Fearful. He had seen the monsters on the plateau, and had no doubt there were more. An easily spooked horse would do him no good.

Closer was a buckskin horse, tan hide shining gold in the noon sun. Long legs and a strong chest showed he was built for speed. That could save his life if he found himself outnumbered. He would do just fine.

As Link moved to get into position, a loud whinny broke through the calm. Cursing softly, Link pressed himself into the dirt as the other horses quickly swung their heads to the right. Following their gaze, it was all he could do not to gasp.

On the small hill some hundred feet ahead of him stood a beautiful black horse. It’s long mane whipped around as it shook its head, and its coat gleamed sharply in the light. It charged down the hill, straight for the buckskin Link had been eyeing and quickly chased it off, biting and stamping as the buckskin fled to the chestnut mare Link had eyed earlier. After ensuring he hadn’t been pursued, the horse pranced and snorted his disapproval.

Returning the stomp and accompanying it with a sharp whinny, the black horse lowered his head and began to graze. After a moment's hesitation, the other horses followed his lead and continued to eat.

Link grinned. He was strong, and the way he tore down the hill showed he had speed. He was obviously fearless, and even seemed to have some scars on his hind quarters and sides, possibly from defending his herd. Perfect. Now, Link just needed a way to wrangle him. He couldn’t sneak up on him, there were four other horses between him and his quarry. If he spooked, Link would never catch him. And if he tried to defend himself…

Link shook his head. He’d been through too much already to get his skull caved in by a stray kick. He glanced around, maybe he could find a higher vantage point, a place he could drop down from? The horses began to move, heading off perpendicular from Link’s position. He followed their heading, looking for something to help him get an edge on this horse.

There. A large rock, slopped up so that the peak stood a good eight feet high, only a couple feet above the horse's back. He had his paraglider. Even if the stallion didn’t walk directly next to the rock, he could still land on its back. Plan in mind, Link crawled towards the rock.

By the Goddesses’ grace, Link got to the to the rock face closest to him without being detected and began to climb. When he reached the top, he pressed himself flat against the sun warmed stone. The black horse was moving closer to the rock, beginning to pass it by. He needed hurry, but carelessness would cost him here.

Slowly, Link moved himself into a crouched position, eyes never leaving the stallion. Carefully, he took another couple steps toward the edge. Just a bit closer. Link tensed. The horse was right beneath him.

Now.

Link hopped off the rock, landing solidly on the stallion’s back and grabbing two fistfulls of its mane while clenching his thighs against its flanks. The horse reared, screaming at the sudden attack, and the other horses followed suit. Screaming and neighing, they ran, leaving Link and the stallion behind.

He bucked and reared, running and jumping and kicking for all he was worth, spinning like a tornado, but Link held tight. He couldn’t lose him. He couldn’t. He held tighter, his neck snapped back as the horse threw its weight forward and kicked out its hind legs. Sweat beaded on his brow as he grunted, inaudible under the horse's own whinnying.

“Whoa!” Link shouted. “I’m not going to hurt you! Easy!”

After what felt like several minutes, but could have been only a few seconds, the horse’s fighting slowly began to wane. It was panting slightly, ears pinned back and hooves stamping and pawing against the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

“There you go,” Link murmured, breath short as his grip loosened slightly. “There you go. I’m not going to hurt you. Just calm down. It’s OK. It’s OK.”

Finally, the horse stood calm despite the continuous shift of its hooves. Cautiously, Link moved one of his hands, still keeping a light grip on the mane, and stroked the horse's neck. The muscles twitched under his palm, and he carefully rested his hand there.

“See,” Link whispered. “I’m a friend. I’d like your help.” At this, the horse's right ear shifted back, and Link paused. Animals couldn’t understand people, right? Link frowned. Says who? Even if the words were lost on them, the emotions weren’t. So he continued to speak, his sincerity and respect coating every word.

“I have a lot I need to do. A lot of places I need to go. And I can’t do it alone. I’d be grateful if you helped me. And let me help you. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll keep you fed. We’ll help each other, OK?”

The horse did nothing for a moment. Then he huffed, bobbing his head up and down in what seemed like agreement. Link grinned, giving his neck a more enthusiastic rub. “Thank you.” He sighed. “Now, let’s try moving, huh?”

Link gave a soft kick to his sides and with a grunt the horse began to move. For a brief moment, Link wondered how he knew how to do all this. Tame a horse, keep it calm, make it move. He shook his head. One thing at a time. Noticing the horse begin to drift to the right, off the dirt road Link was leading him down, he gave a small tug to his mane, pulling his head a bit to the left. He quickly got back on track and Link rewarded him with another pat on the neck.

Soon, the stallion caught on to what Link wanted, and began to take the turns of the road without prompting. Letting his focus drift a bit, Link took in his surroundings.

There were worse places he could have jumped to from the Great Plateau. Rolling green fields were occasionally interrupted by small tree stands and ponds. Lines of rocks that looked as if they had been shoved up out of the earth appeared here and there, but there were no massive cliffs like there were on the plateau. A little farther on however, a rock wall steadily began to rise on their left side. Still nowhere near what he had had to deal with, but tall enough that he couldn’t see what lay on top of it. It also seemed to stop abruptly several hundred feet ahead.

The life was abundant here. There were large birds with long legs and beaks that took off at Links approach, and he could have sworn he saw a red fox dart into some undergrowth. Lizards would dart across the road, and butterflies would flutter around Link before moving off to some flowers. The calls of insects and birds and mammals acted as an accompaniment to his horse’s steady hoof-beats.

Link wiped his brow and glanced up. There were few clouds present, and the horses black pelt wasn’t helping matters, absorbing the sun and heating up Links body even more. Actually, the horse was probably having a rougher time of it than he was.

“Hey,” Link murmured, and the horse flicked his ears. “Need a drink bud? You must be getting pretty hot, and I don’t exactly have a place in mind for where to go next.” The horse swiveled his head around as they took a leftward bend, then stopped.

Link jerked forward slightly, not expecting the abrupt halt, and looked ahead. They had reached the end of the cliff wall. And it turned out it had been hiding a rather interesting structure.

There was a building up ahead the likes of which Link had never seen. Well, not that he could remember anyway. It looked almost like a large patchwork tent with a few openings leading inside. Several people were milling around outside, sitting by a cooking fire or taking refuge under the shade of the nearby trees. Some were talking to each other, and a dog was fast asleep under one of the canvas overhangs. But none of that was what stuck out to Link.

On top of the building was a massive, shoddy looking horse head. It seemed to be put together with scrap pieces of wood, and it had several flag lines leading down to different parts of the roof. The shape of it was borderline frightening, looking like a child’s drawing brought into the real world.

“Huh.” Link mumbled. That was new. Underneath him, the horse shifted uneasily. One human was apparently as many as he wanted to deal with.

“Hey,” Link murmured, rubbing his neck softly. “It’s ok. I won’t let anything happen to you. There might be food there. And water too. Would you like that?”

The horse gave a huff and after a moment's hesitation began to move forward. Link grinned and gave another pat. “Thank you.”

As they got closer, Link noticed there seemed to be a counter on one side of the building, so he guided his horse to it. As he pulled up, he saw there was a rather oddly dressed man standing there. He had on a long-sleeved shirt covered by a light blue vest, thick gloves and a rather odd looking hat of the same color, and a green scarf.

 _How in Hyrule is he dressed like that?_ Link wondered, feeling the sweat gather on his back through his thin, worn shirt.

Bringing his horse just shy of the wooden platform, Link stopped. He leaned down next to the horse’s ear and murmured “Promise not to run off?” with a small grin.

If a horse could roll its eyes, Link was pretty sure this one would have. As it was, he simply swung his head just enough to bump against Link’s a bit harder than was necessary. Link gave a short laugh, rubbing his head for a moment before sliding off his mount and stepping up to the counter, where the man had been eyeing him the whole time.

“Huh,” the man said, “Never seen your face around here before.”

Link’s shoulders hunched. _Well I just woke up from a hundred year sleep on top of that massive plateau._ Yes. That would work wonderfully.

“I’m not from around here,” Link answered instead, “New to the area.”

“Ah,” The man nodded. “Well, name’s Ember. Welcome to Riverside Stable!” He threw his arms out, gesturing to the surrounding area, before refolding them.

“Link.” Link nodded with a small smile. “And thanks.”

Glancing over Link’s shoulder, Ember whistled, “Mighty fine horse you have there. No saddle though. Wild caught?”

Link nodded, his grin just a bit prideful, “Just today actually. He’s a good one. The fact that he didn’t run off as soon as I hopped off him seems proof of that.” At this, the horse leaned forward and pushed Link in the back with his head, sending him forward with a small “Oof!”.

Ember laughed “Spirited aint he? That’s good. A horse with no spirit’s just an empty shell. You lookin’ to register him?”

Link’s face twisted in confusion. “Register?”

Ember nodded, mirroring the look. “Ya, register.You new to traveling or something?”

Link just shrugged, “You could say that.” The old man had warned him to not draw too much attention to himself before he left, to not give people a reason to start asking questions about who he was or where he was from. If Ember wanted to hand him an excuse for his cluelessness, all the better for him.

“Well, I guess I’ll break it down for ya then,” Ember sighed. “We board your horses see? Up to five of ‘em. Say there’s another horse you wanna take out, or you just wanna go somewhere on foot, we take care of the horse for ya. ‘Course, it costs money, but it’s to help us care for ‘em.”

A small pit formed in Link’s stomach. Pay? Did he even have anything to pay with? “How much?”

Link’s worry must have come through in his voice, because Ember was quick to put him at ease. “Nothin’ to empty out your wallet boy, promise! It’s only twenty rupees! And that includes a saddle and bridle.”

Link’s shoulders sagged in relief as the knot disappeared. The old man had mentioned rupees too, giving him a quick rundown of what they were and how much each color was worth, even giving him some before he left the plateau. Fishing around in his wallet, Link quickly took out two yellow rupees and handed them to Ember.

“Thanks pal! So, what’s this big guy’s name?”

His name? Link hadn’t even thought of that. Glancing back at his horse, he considered. Shadow seemed boring. Phantom sent uneasy chills up his spine, but he couldn’t for the life of him place why. The suddenly began to prance in place. Something, a small animal maybe, must have gave him a start, and he kicked up a storm of dirt with his hooves. Link smiled. He was strong, he could tear across the land, and vanish quick as he came. He could cause a good deal of damage when he wanted to, but he was Link’s saving grace. He’d been a whirlwind to ride, and he still had a hurricane brewing inside his heart.

He turned to Ember with a smile and said, “Storm. His name’s Storm.”


End file.
